Marvelman — Does Everything a Marvel Can (provided Alan Moore lets him)

i09 reports an interview with writer Alan Moore by Mania.com has revealed that yes, Marvel will be reprinting his (and Neil Gaiman’s) famed runs on Marvelman (or Miracleman, if Marvel prefers). Moore has asked that his name be removed from the work, but he will be giving his share of the reprint money to Marvelman creator Mick Anglo. Marvel announced at San Diego ComicCon that it bought the Marvelman rights. io9 also notes that Moore hinted that Gaiman might complete his final Marvelman story, cut short by its publisher’s bankruptcy.

These stories are legendary, partially because they’ve been so hard to get. Rights issues have prevented them from being reprinted, and that’s helped drive up the prices of the original back issues. Now that Marvel is on its way to getting the stories back into publication, you can be sure of three things:

1. Sales will be high. This could get Marvel to the top of the New York Times Graphic Novel Bestseller list.
2. Readers will pay for these things. Marvel charges out the wazz for stuff readers are mildly interested in; for Marvelman, Marvel might even double their going rates. (Probably not, but I can see it happening. They did have to pay for the rights, after all.)
3. Two years after Marvel first gets Marvelman onto the stands, we will be drowning in formats. Premiere hardcovers. Trade paperbacks. Omnibuses. Hell, maybe even digests of the things.